Admiral Recovering Costs From Me!

lara.mango19

Hello everyone

I am new to this site so please be gentle with me...

About a year ago I got convicted of drink driving. I have been on the drink driving course and have been also punished by the law. It was very out of character for me and I am very grateful no one was seriously hurt and I will never ever make this mistake ever again.

My question is.. I was with Admiral Insurance and they have a clause in their contract saying they reserve the right to recover third party costs from you. I am wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and what the outcome was? Did you end up paying them etc? I have read a lot of threads but cannot seem to find any outcomes??

Obviously, I will not get money back for my car which is completely more than fair but for third party damages and whiplash claims which can escalate resulting in extreme debt seems very harsh as if I was to have crashed while using my mobile phone etc I would have been covered for this and I know no other insurance use this clause and if they did, they have now removed it.

While all of this is well and good and a couple of you will say 'yes bleed her dry' 'she deserves it'... as mentioned before I have already been punished by the law and I am deeply ashamed and am just trying to move forward from this life lesson.

Look forward to hearing from you all.



** I would also like to add that in the event that a bill for over 10k is issued, I will not be able to pay it back as I have no savings, no assets i.e house etc, earn just over NMW, rent and have no surplus money**

motorguy

Are they attempting to recover costs from you or are you concerned they may do in the future?

ginashamz

Admiral are in their full right to recover any costs from you. Their policy does not cover drivers who are intoxicated at the wheel. This will be your responsibility and you most likely will end up paying for Admiral's pay out costs.

Sea_Shell

Do you still have the wording with the clauses in, what exactly does it say?

I had heard rumours of these sorts of clauses, but never come across anyone actually in breach of them.

ginashamz

Your best way forward is to agree a monthly cost with them over 'X' number of years. I am not sure what the pay out was to third party but it will not be cheap, most likely in the thousands.


Next time get a taxi before deciding to drink drive

lara.mango19

"If an accident happens whilst you or any person entitled to drive under Section 5 of your current Certificate of Motor Insurance is convicted of an offence involving drink or drugs, or was driving under the influence of drink or drugs, no cover under the policy will be provided and instead, liability will be restricted to meeting the obligations as required by Road Traffic law. In those circumstances, we reserve the right to recover from you or the driver, all sums paid (including all legal costs), whether in settlement or under a Judgment, of any claim arising from the accident."

I know on paper they are saying they reserve the right to recover these sums from you but my question is whether this has happened with anyone else and what the outcome of the situation was

Thanks

lara.mango19

@ginashamz - yes I will have to set up a payment plan but in some cases I have seen people be hit with a £30k bill and am wondering if there is no means of recovering the full sum, whether they would just agree on a lump sum or payment plan over x amount of years.

I know they say they RESERVE THE RIGHT but how often do they action this?

Again, I am very disappointed in myself and have been punished by the law and I punish myself every day for it. This thread isn't about how this could have been avoided but in fact if anyone has gone through same scenario and what the outcome is.

Thank you.

foxy-stoat

I doubt they will pursue you personally to recover costs unless they know they can get the money out of you, are you loaded or high earner?.....say you publicly won millions on the lottery and you totaled a load of cars/people while celebrating in your new 911, sure as !!!! they will come after you for all your winnings.

Sea_Shell

Wow, just been doing some googling on this and yes, it would appear that they can seek to recover ALL their costs from the drunk driver, as cover is voided. One claim was for £197,000!!!!

Cases have even gone to Ombudsman and been found in Admiral's favour!

Basically, by taking out one of there policies, you're giving UNLIMITED liability, if found to be DD.

I think all you can do is wait and see what the bill will be and be thankful no-one was left with life-changing injuries or that any property was damaged.

Kentish_Dave

lara.mango19 wrote: »

"If an accident happens whilst you or any person entitled to drive under Section 5 of your current Certificate of Motor Insurance is convicted of an offence involving drink or drugs, or was driving under the influence of drink or drugs, no cover under the policy will be provided and instead, liability will be restricted to meeting the obligations as required by Road Traffic law. In those circumstances, we reserve the right to recover from you or the driver, all sums paid (including all legal costs), whether in settlement or under a Judgment, of any claim arising from the accident."

I know on paper they are saying they reserve the right to recover these sums from you but my question is whether this has happened with anyone else and what the outcome of the situation was

Thanks

Yes, it happens often. The costs were caused by your having broken the law so they will seek to recover them in full from you, including medical costs, compensation etc.

And yes, this can be tens or hundreds of thousands.

Hopefully after some reflection you will see that this is only fair, they do not cover you for what happened, so it’s down to you to pay.

An expensive lesson, I agree, but morally the correct outcome.

Jackmydad

motorguy wrote: »

Are they attempting to recover costs from you or are you concerned they may do in the future?

That's the main question I'd have thought.
If the OP is worried they might do so in the future, it's something that is out of their control, and so no good worrying endlessly about.
If they've already been issued with a bill then it'll obviously need paying somehow.